Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has officially joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC), months after exiting the All Progressives Congress (APC).
DAILY GAZETTE learned that El-Rufai completed his registration and received his ADC membership card at the party’s Unguwar Sarki Ward office in Kaduna.
He arrived with a sizeable delegation of loyalists, including former political appointees and local government chairmen.
Speaking after receiving his card, the former FCT Minister said he chose the ADC as the platform through which he would confront what he called the “incompetent leadership” currently steering Kaduna State.
El-Rufai addressed party members alongside top ADC officials such as the North-West Vice Chairman, Hon. Jafaru Sani, and the National Membership Secretary, Sen. Sadiq Yar’adua.
“I’m a bona fide member of the African Democratic Congress,” he declared, adding that earlier coalition talks failed because the SDP “would not open up,” alleging that some of its leaders had been compromised.
He noted that the ADC, however, accepted the coalition’s terms.
He also explained that he held off on publicly committing to the ADC until several pending by-elections and local political matters were concluded.
Expressing appreciation for the quick arrangement of the event, he said, “I was informed at 6 pm yesterday to be here by 4 o’clock today, and I made it.”
Turning to politics, El-Rufai issued a rallying call to Kaduna residents aged 18 and above to register with the ADC.
He vowed to replicate what he described as the monumental victory of 2015, when the APC defeated the then-ruling PDP.
According to him, the APC government in Kaduna has failed to honour its promises and now “acts with impunity.”
He accused the administration of straying from the values he once championed.
“We helped bring them into office. Now we have the duty to help send them back home, before they end up in prison,” he said.
El-Rufai received membership number 000002, while the coalition’s Vice National Chairman (North-West) received 000001, marking the start of the ADC’s new registration drive in Kaduna.
His defection follows his March 10 resignation from the APC, where he cited a deepening disconnect between his values and the direction of the party.
In his letter, he accused APC leaders of abandoning the progressive ideals that inspired its 2013 formation, a merger effort in which he played a central role.
He lamented that his warnings, raised privately and publicly over the past two years, had been disregarded, adding that the APC had strayed far from its founding vision.
